To RAID or not to RAID?

Hi im purchasing and additional HD for my desktop. This purchase will require the purchase of a IDE controller card. The card supports RAID and the extra HD I was looking at is the exact same one as a HD I have in now. However...I found a larger drive by the same manufacturer for a better value so im really leaning towards that one. I am torn though because (from my knowledge) I can use RAID if I purchase that HD thats the same as one of my current ones, but if I get the better value HD i wont be able to utilize RAID because they arent the same. I could be totally wrong about that... Also which is a better choice? If i am correct...no RAID with the better value HD or is RAID incredibly awesome and I must have it? Thanks.

if you are aiming to have a fault tolerance in case one of your computer hard disks fail later on then I would suggest you configure your RAID. Nevertheless, if you simply want to have more disk space then forget about RAID. The thing is, do some backups all the time.

Whats the OS you are using or plan to use. It will also depend on your computer's primary use whether as server or desktop. For server raid is a must to avoid future problems. For desktops it does not matter. If you are into video editing then large hdd may help. I am not sure if desktop os support raid.

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kiranghag, is correct. You can use diff cap drives for RAID. RAID 0 will stripe the drive; that is write the data across the 2 drives. RAID 1 "mirroring" the data from disk to disk. The info is written to EXACTLY the same place on each disk this is why same size, maker and speed are recommended. BUT If you partition 1 drive to the size of the smaller drive a larger drive will work. The remaining space will not be used by RAID. I would recommend the same speed and maybe even manufacturer though. You CAN purchase a RAID card in your local computer shop, my board came with onboard RAID so I don't know much about the add-on. I believe it is a pci card. So, desktops most definitely support RAID...

don't bother with the RAID option. If this is a desktop, and you started this because you need more HD space, then go with the orginal plan. You should have a backup system of some kind in place regardless if you are using RAID. So enjoy the new HD. Also, if you organize yourself a little (have your recovery/OS and program CD ready but stored in a save place) should you crash, you can be backup and running quickly. Remember, the RAID would also need to be fixed in the even of a problem! - If this is a corp. server the above does not apply!

Go with RAID 0 it is your best option. Your computer will be much faster and you will have a larger drive than the 1 big drive. I see no reason not to go with RAID. You can use 2 diffrent sized drives with RAID too so you can try that way also. You will really love the extra speed and size provided by RAID 0.
You probably don't need the backup that RAID 1 gives you. Just backup essential files to a CD or tape.

Normally if you have once installed a RAID system lets say with 80 GB harddisks. Then if you ever need to replace one of those harddisks in that system you will need to install a disk with the same disksize or larger. The part of the disk that is larger than on singel disk in your allready running system will go unused.

RAID configurations are more complex than single disk systems. When it comes to make backup of the data on those disks I have no experience or knowledge. But I would assume that more precaution and knowledge needs to be achieved before backing up a RAID system. Maybe the software specifically needs to support it and so on.

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